By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN
For more than six months, I have been advising nurse leaders to brace for a class of new graduate nurses who will be the least “work ready” of any group of nurses who have ever transitioned into practice. The patient acuity-nurse experience gap has never been wider. These young nurses have spent the last two years of their education remotely learning with minimal clinical experience. Very few will have done senior practicum immersions where they worked with a preceptor for an extended time.
Nursing faculty have shared that students are very anxious about their skills. Many of these graduates worry they will transition into turbulent environments where they feel psychologically unsafe and unable to meet the professional demands.
It is up to us as leaders to ensure that transitional experiences are designed with the reality of the past two years top of mind. It is not the new graduate’s fault that their education was massively interrupted. It is not the faculty’s fault that the pandemic disrupted clinical placements. If we want these young nurses to succeed, we will need to do more for them, especially this year. Orientations will probably need to be longer. Preceptor expectations may need to be tempered. Below are some wants and needs of this young workforce to consider as you plan their onboarding:
New Graduate Wants
- Leaders who focus on their strengths and contributions rather than their deficits
- Leaders who are inclusive and make sure new staff develop strong connections with others
- Optimistic leaders who say thank you and make them feel special
- Leaders who help them track their progress and growth.
- Leaders who are coaches, not bosses
- Leaders who discuss career planning
- Leaders who pay them fairly
- Leaders who honor work-life balance and nurse wellbeing
- Leaders who don’t give them assignments that are more complex than they can manage
New Graduate Needs
- Leaders who listen more than they talk
- Leaders who mind the gap between patient needs and new nurse capabilities – and who don’t expect too much too soon
- Leaders who build teams where psychological safety is a core value
- Leaders who choose preceptors that help new graduates develop stronger critical thinking skills
- Leaders who are not afraid to give straight feedback stop a new graduate from derailing
- Leaders who will teach them conversational skills and team backup
- Leaders who understand their high stress and anxiety levels and will discuss well-being strategies
- Leaders who promote a growth versus fixed mindset in competency development by reminding new nurses – they can’t do this yet but will soon
- Leaders who plan comprehensive orientations and provide step-by-step guidance
- Leaders who create environments of civility and teamwork
When transitioning your new graduate nurses this year, begin with the end in mind. One nurse leader told me that her team has an audacious goal to retain 95% of her new graduates through the first year. The residents will start in July. In their planning session, she challenged her team with the following scenario: It is July of 2023, and we have only lost one of our new graduates. What did we do to make that happen? There is wisdom in that question for all of us.
© emergingrnleader.com 2022
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